Another Edmonton Folk Music Festival is in the books. Despite some rain and wind storms, thousands came out to take in food, drinks, artisans and of course great music.
Here’s a look at how it all played out at Gallagher Park in central Edmonton over the course of the four-day event:
Attendance
- 55,000 tickets sold
- Kids can attend for free
- Neighbours who live near Gallagher Park can attend for free
- An estimated 25,000 people per day attended
Musical acts
- 64 acts played
- $1.5 million was spent on artists
- The total budget was $5 million
“I have the artists telling me it’s the best festival they’ve ever been to, especially the newer ones. People like Brandi Carlile that travel a lot and are getting quite big in the world of music — I think she shouted out that this is the best music festival in the world,” festival producer Terry Wickham said.
“I don’t see enough of the world to say that. I think what they’re talking about is the hospitality they receive here from our fantastic volunteer crew.”
READ MORE: Folk Festival act plays Edmonton’s Needle Vinyl Tavern following storm evacuation
Weather
- There were five weather events over the four days
- Strong winds forced an evacuation of the site on Thursday evening
- Winds as high as 70 km/h were recorded
READ MORE: Edmonton Folk Festival shut down Thursday night due to ‘dangerous winds’
“The financial damage to the festival will be about $100,000,” Wickham said. “It’s not good, but that’s not bad. No one got hurt, that’s the main thing.”
- On Saturday, temperatures were quite high, sparking a heat warning for parts of the province
- Sunday saw two severe thunderstorm alerts — one watch and one warning
READ MORE: Folk Festival volunteers say evacuation went smoothly, share unique perspective
- Sunday night’s lightning storm saw five lightning strikes within a nine-kilometre radius
- An air quality advisory was issued Sunday evening due to wildfire smoke drifting in
Beer gardens
- Typically, $400,000 of beer is sold each year
- This year’s beer sales are estimated closer to $500,000
- The beer gardens were expanded this year to reduce lineups and wait times
“I also think that increasing the enjoyment of people at the beer tent was important,” Wickham said. “A lot of people could now be at the beer tent and see Stage 1.”
READ MORE: 38th annual Edmonton Folk Fest focusing on fan comfort, good music
Tarps
- There were about 30 tarps left behind this year
“Edmonton’s growing and that’s great,” Wickham said. “We had nine Garth Brooks shows, we’ve got Rogers Place. When I joined here, there were maybe one or two other music festivals; now there’s probably six or seven.
“That’s all good. We’re not trying to grow; we’re just trying to improve each year. I learned a long time ago, all you can do is the best you can do on your own show. Everybody else has to do their thing.”
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